CARPETS have been pulled out and one woman was taken to hospital as a precaution after a burst water main on Thursday swept through a Cardiff retirement village. Residents at the Oak Tree Retirement Village in Cypress Street were woken in the early hours of the morning along with their neighbours after a torrent of water spilled onto Main Road at Cardiff and into some of their homes. Village manager Lyn Goodin-Collis said she woke to news of the issue when a resident called her in Brisbane, where she and manager Julie Gardner had been attending a conference. By 5am her husband was on site and her daughter was offering food to residents who woke to an unusually wet morning. “They described it as the sound of this train coming through, this wall of water just washing through,” she said. “It got about 10 of the villas.” “One of the residents did have a fall and she was taken to hospital but she’s okay.” Assessors examined the villas, as well as Hunter Water who Ms Goodin-Collins said had been “fantastic” throughout the process. “It’s awful when something like this happens when you’re not there, but we’ve had great back-up.” At 4.30am residents on Johnstone Street awoke to gushing water. Emergency services and Hunter Water were notified and crews arrived on site by 5am. The wall of water was built after a main burst in the early hours of the morning, damaging 16 properties and sparking chaos for commuters as traffic through Main Road continued to build. Hunter Water managed to isolate the break to the 500mm water main within the hour, but the flood of water and debris had already started to travel downhill. The burst shut down one lane of Main Road during peak commuter traffic and also cut the water supply to several homes in Cardiff, Cardiff South and Macquarie Hills. Hunter Water has provided assistance to the affected residents, at Oak Tree and beyond. “We will continue to support affected residents and are working hard to restore normality for them as quickly as possible,” a Hunter Water spokeswoman said on Thursday. “Hunter Water sincerely apologises to those customers affected, and to those affected by traffic disruption at Main Road Cardiff (southbound) this morning.” Traffic was slowed through the area due to mud from the burst main. Additional works were expected to continue overnight to remove it. A Hunter Water spokeswoman said the company would continue to work on identifying the cause of the breakage. All lanes of Main Road had reopened to traffic by 10.30am.

Traffic chaos in Cardiff, burst water main causes road closures on Main Road

Wash-out for 16 Cardiff retirement villas in water main burst

MUD HOLE: Hunter Water crews at the scene of a water main that burst in the early hours of Thursday on Johnstone Street at Cardiff on Thursday. Clean-up work was expected to continue overnight. Picture: MARINA NEIL

Hunter Water crews at the scene of a burst water main on Johnstone street Cardiff. Picture: MARINA NEIL

Hunter Water crews at the scene of a burst water main on Johnstone street Cardiff. Picture: MARINA NEIL

Hunter Water crews at the scene of a burst water main on Johnstone street Cardiff. Picture: MARINA NEIL

Hunter Water crews at the scene of a burst water main on Johnstone street Cardiff. Picture: MARINA NEIL

Hunter Water crews at the scene of a burst water main on Johnstone street Cardiff. Picture: MARINA NEIL

CARPETS have been pulled out and one woman was taken to hospital as a precaution after a burst water main on Thursday swept through a Cardiff retirement village.

Residents at the Oak Tree Retirement Village in Cypress Street were woken in the early hours of the morning along with their neighbours after a torrent of water spilled onto Main Road at Cardiff and into some of their homes.

Village manager Lyn Goodin-Collis said she woke to news of the issue when a resident called her in Brisbane, where she and manager Julie Gardner had been attending a conference.

By 5am her husband was on site and her daughter was offering food to residents who woke to an unusually wet morning.

“They described it as the sound of this train coming through, this wall of water just washing through,” she said. “It got about 10 of the villas.”

“One of the residents did have a fall and she was taken to hospital but she’s okay.”

Assessors examined the villas, as well as Hunter Water who Ms Goodin-Collins said had been “fantastic” throughout the process.

“It’s awful when something like this happens when you’re not there, but we’ve had great back-up.”

At 4.30am residents on Johnstone Street awoke to gushing water.

Emergency services and Hunter Water were notified and crews arrived on site by 5am. The wall of water was built after a main burst in the early hours of the morning, damaging 16 properties and sparking chaos for commuters as traffic through Main Road continued to build.

Hunter Water managed to isolate the break to the 500mm water main within the hour, but the flood of water and debris had already started to travel downhill.

The burst shut down one lane of Main Road during peak commuter traffic and also cut the water supply to several homes in Cardiff, Cardiff South and Macquarie Hills.

Hunter Water has provided assistance to the affected residents, at Oak Tree and beyond.

“We will continue to support affected residents and are working hard to restore normality for them as quickly as possible,” a Hunter Water spokeswoman said on Thursday. “Hunter Water sincerely apologises to those customers affected, and to those affected by traffic disruption at Main Road Cardiff (southbound) this morning.”

Traffic was slowed through the area due to mud from the burst main. Additional works were expected to continue overnight to remove it.

A Hunter Water spokeswoman said the company would continue to work on identifying the cause of the breakage. All lanes of Main Road had reopened to traffic by 10.30am.